Taavi Veskimägi

Taavi Veskimägi born 20 November, 1974 in Eidapere, Estonian SSR is an Estonian politician, since March 2005 Vice Speaker of the Estonian Parliament (Riigikogu).

He is a former Minister of Finance (2003–2005) and one of the two former co-Chairmen of the Union of Pro Patria and Res Publica (2006–2007).

Education

After graduation from secondary school 1993 in Rapla Taavi Veskimägi continued his studies in Tallinn University of Technology, but switched in 1994 to Pedagogical University of Tallinn. He graduated in 1998 as a BA in public administration.

Party career

Since 1994 he has been a member of the Res Publica Party. At first it was a socio-political organisation, becoming a political party only on 8 December, 2001. From 2001 to 2002 he served as a Treasurer of the party and was elected a Chairman in 2005 after the resignation of the former Chairman and Prime Minister of Estonia, Juhan Parts.

As the Chairman of the Res Publica he faced a difficult task to restore the positive reputation of his party that was lost during the last 2 years in government or to lead the party into merger with another right-wing party. Local elections on 16 October, 2005 showed a declining support for Res Publica. The party lost 13 of its 17 seats in Tallinn City Council and was forced into opposition in the capital. In April 2006 plans were unveiled for merging Res Publica with Pro Patria Union. The annual congresses voted in favour of the merger on 4 June, 2006. The new party was named Union of Pro Patria and Res Publica and was led by two chairmen – Tõnis Lukas and Taavi Veskimägi. At the congress that took place on 26 May, 2007 Mart Laar was elected a new chairman of the party and Taavi Veskimägi continued to serve in capacity of a member of the party board.

Other political activities

Taavi Veskimägi worked for 5 years (1996 to 2001) as an advisor and a head of department in the Ministry of Finance. Since 1998 he has also given lectures and consultations on public administration. 1999 he was elected to Rapla City Council and 2002 to Rapla County Council. He became a member of the Estonian Parliament in 2003, but had to leave his post very soon to become the Minister of Finance. After the resignation of Prime Minister Juhan Parts' cabinet on 24 March, 2005 Taavi Veskimägi returned to Riigikogu and was elected new Vice Speaker. He is also a member of the Parliamentary Committee for Budget Control.

His financial politics have been a mix of liberal and conservative approach. He supports low taxes, flat income tax for citizens and no income tax for enterprises. He has opposed taking extensive loans, describing it as living in expense of tomorrow.

Personal life

Taavi Veskimägi has one daughter (born 2005). His hobbies are football and restoration of motorbikes.